Think I'll jump in here. I have found that the matchkings in .243 in the 4-600 yd range for praire dogs work much better than the Sierra varmiteers that they offer. I have no doubt that they would work better than most hunting bullets at those ranges. I realize this 4-600 yd is not long range by the long range shooters. But what most shooter don't know and the LR shooters haven't stated is that out about 500 yards, a good bullet goes to sleep as some call it. It really doesn't settle down until then. After that. it is almost perfectly stabilized and will continue in flight with very little if any devaition except shedding velocity. A lot of the premium hunting bullets just never get there. However, there are better bullets for short range hunting. One particular is the Sierra Round Nose. A lot of hunters have forgotten about these bullets or never used them . The same thing, They never used them, but complain they are not accurate. They will indeed do everything a BT will do out to 300 yds. I'm not a proponent of using premium bullets. I don't travel a long ways for my hunt, and I hunt longer and can pass up shots if I need to. But the bullets I use, kill just as effectively as any premium bullets I have heard about. I don't buy the arguement that premiums give you an edge against a bad angle. Hell, don't take the shot if it's bad. I don't care if you have $10,000 wrapped up in the hunt, if it ain't right don't take it. I have used Sierra bullets exclusively for over 30 years. If it ain't broke , no need to fix it. But I think anyone that thinks one bullet can do it all is missing the boat, and anyone that flat out says a certain bullet won't do a job is missing the boat also. I just don't like a grapfruit size exit hole becasue there is too much blood shot meat around it. Certainly if you hit a shoulder on the far side, I imagine you pretty much would have to throw it away if you had that size exit hole.
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<br>I wouldn't reccomend Matchkings or any BT in dense timer with 15 yard shots, nor would I reccomend round nose bullets in open country past 250 yds.
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<br>BTW. I used Matchkings for about 15 years in competition, for 600 yds. However, for 200-300 yds, I used the cheapest bullet I could find, as long as they would shoot in the 10 or X ring. Kinda the same for hunting, dead is dead whether you shoot them with a 25 cent bullet or a $2 one.
